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TopShop

New Mobile Printing Solution for Price Mark Down Labeling Sees Improved Customer Service

During autumn 2006 the Eliona Group launched, under franchise, the Topshop chain of retail clothes stores in Russia. Already well established in Western Europe as a familiar high street name, Topshop sells mid-priced mens and womens clothes. Its first store in Moscow opened in the "Evropeiskiy" trade centre, taking up 1000 metres of retail space. One of the key requirements of Topshop Russia was to implement a leading edge price mark down system which could be easily integrated with the store's existing IT systems.

The Story

The Challenge

How to apply retail price mark downs to only selected clothes item as opposed to whole collections which consisted of several hundred items in store.

Use of fixed location printers for price mark downs resulted in many financial mistakes being made, not to mention wasted time and resources.

Use of an external supplier for promotional labels caused delays and errors.

The Solution

Zebra® QL 320 Plus mobile printers connected to a data terminal using 3rd party software to record stock levels, receipt and delivery of clothing items and price mark down labelling.

The Eliona Group was one of the first organisations in Russia to implement such a leading edge price mark down printing solution in a retail clothes store.

Results

The Benefits

Topshop Russia retail store assistants have the ability to print price mark down labels on demand for selected clothing items whilst on the shop floor, rather than in the back office.

Easier and faster discounting of clothes items has saved time, reduced waste and the number of errors made.

Increased employee productivity, margin and profit.

Faster processing of payments and improved customer service.

Frees up more time to serve customers.

Project Implementation According to Eliona Group's's IT Director, Oleg Andreev, the opening of the new Topshop Moscow store meant that it was necessary to implement a new system for price mark down labelling that could not be integrated with the rest of the company's IT systems. Therefore, the Auto ID channel partner which was chosen to implement this project for Topshop Russia had to have relevant specialist experience in this area, as well the ability to offer good customer support and service.

The new mobile printing technology solution consisted of Zebra® QL 320 plus mobile printers connected to hand held terminals. It supported a range of price labelling printing options. In addition the existing software that was used for recording stock levels, receipt and shipping of clothing items was updated with capability to support on demand price mark down changes.

Reaping the rewards As a result of the new mobile price mark down labelling system, the Topshop Russia store assistants can now print new labels every time they find clothing items that require a price change.

The solution benefits have meant that store discounting has been made a lot easier compared to previously. This has resulted in increased sales margins and profits stemming from less time being wasted, a reduction in errors, better overall customer service and faster payment processing for its customers. According to Oleg Andreev, "We're satisfied with the results and quality of the project. We're now likely to decide on replicating this price mark down mobile printing solution for other retail franchises within Eliona Group in the future.

"The project's implementation confirms that Zebra® printers contribute to the effectiveness of our customers' business processes," further commented Olga Gerasimova, Business Development Manager for Zebra Technologies Russia and CIS. "Zebra Technologies aims to develop long-term relationships with our customers and channel partners, presenting them with a wide range of highquality printing solutions which help to optimise their day-to-day business activities."